Cat reunited with owners after being found 65 miles away from home

But the wayward moggy, from St Andrews, Fife recently befriended a cat-loving couple in Aberdeenshire and he was finally reunited with his hugely-relieved owners this week.

Joanne, who says Bertie has never wandered off before, feared he might have been hit by a car.

(Photo credit: SWNS)

The hairdresser thinks Bertie might have jumped in the back of a delivery lorry before being driven 65 miles to Stonehaven.

She said: "I think he might have stupidly gone into the back of a delivery lorry or something because the house where he was found is next to an industrial estate."

"It's not like him to wander off, so when he wasn't coming back I started to get worried.

"He is not the type of cat to go into other people's houses.

"He's soft as putty, so laid back he's almost horizontal, and he is a creature of habit.

"After about a week we started handing out leaflets to neighbours, but we thought he must have been hit by a car.

"We still kept looking, when we were out, you still always think is there a chance he could come back."

And to Joanne's disbelief, Bertie did come back, after the man he set up home with called his local Cats Protection group.

She added: "We are ecstatic he is home -- and so is he -- because we never thought we would see him again.

"Our dog Toffee and Bertie's sister Pip are glad he is home too."

(Photo credit: SWNS)

Stonehaven Cats Protection's lost and found officer Liz Sangster said Bertie's microchip was vital in returning him home.

She added: "We would encourage people to have their cats microchipped - it can make all the difference when they go missing.

"Even if a cat has not survived, we can trace the owners and give them some form of closure.

"He [Bertie] may have got inside a delivery van - but we'll never know.

"Thankfully, it was a happy outcome."

Bertie is settling back into family life well and Joanne is determined he won't be wandering off again.